Letter: It’s our bank too

Published on 30/03/2012 00:00

You report that the Queen’s bank had been fined a rather large sum of money because of “money laundering failings” (27 March).

I trust there was no suggestion that Her Majesty had been indulging in money laundering!

I have been trying to get my head around the implications of the report.

Coutts & Co, the bank in question, is, I understand, wholly owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland. This would seem to mean it is wholly or very nearly so owned by us, the taxpayers.

What this seems to mean is that the taxpayers have been fined £8.75 million. In other words, we are transferring that money from one pocket to the other and there is the additional cost of the Financial Services Authority’s investigation, details of which are not given.

What a farce. Surely the correct solution would have been to fire all those responsible for this massive foul up and cancel any bonuses to those who should have seen what was going on but were too busy spending time with their money.

BRANISLAV SUDJIC

Black & Guild

Hunter Street

Kirkcaldy